"The Guru’s Cat” by Anthony de Mello
When the guru sat down to worship each evening, the ashram cat would get in the way and distract the worshippers. So he ordered that the cat be tied during evening worship.
“Blindness” by Keith Basar
As a war-weary soul
pursues some form of finality,
the Light,
that lit the hearts of humans
fell prey to sadistic shadows.
There, carnality found insanity it's logical end.
And the heart
turning diabolical, devoid of heat
became a psychological wasteland
absent of color or being.
“Water and Earth” by Keith Basar
He was conceived on the highest mountain slopes — where clouds and stone embrace in holy communion. From a single droplet to a milieu of many, he moved gravitationally downward —encountering parched desserts — renewing along the way, always bound by the pull of destiny.
Currents within him swirled to and fro — sometimes facing fierce storms, relentless winds…
“Concentration” — Author Unknown
After winning several archery contests, the young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned for his skill as an archer. The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency when he hit a distant bull's eye on his first try, and then split that arrow with his second shot.
'There,' he said to the old man, 'see if you can match that!'
“A Celebration of Death” by Chuang Tzu
Upon hearing of the death of Chuang Tzu's wife, his good friend Hui Tzu went over to comfort him and found the sage sitting on the ground banging on an overturned pot and singing a song at the top of his lungs.
Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic
A group of people once asked Jesus how to pray, and he answered with poetry.
Poetry, which presumably got translated many times over since then, and may or may not be accurately represented by the current versions we have available to us today. You can find many rendering’s of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ through a simple google search, ranging in tone from the feudalistic language of King James’ Version:
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name…”
SOURCE: https://healingmyreligion.com/2016/04/30/how-to-pray/
"No Man Is an Island" by John Donne
No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
"The Compass of Compassion" by John Phillip Newell
"Notice the similarity between the word compass and the word compassion. They share an etymological root. The earliest use of the word compass does not, of course, refer to the modern hiking compass as we know it. The word is first used to refer to the mathematical compass, that simple two-pronged device that many of us remember using in grade school to measure the distance between two points and to draw arcs and circles.
"Environment" from 365 Tao by Deng Ming Dao
How can you live
With the constant noise of traffic?
The stench of garbage?
The sight of buildings instead of mountains?
The movement of streets instead of rivers?
The feel of pavement instead of earth?
BE A SUPPORTER OF DENG MING DAO’S WORK
“Family Tree” by HK Stewart
Every twig follows
its own path to the sun.
And yet, even branches
tell each other what to do.
This is how a tree is formed.
BE A SUPPORTER ON MR. STEWART’S EFFORTS